As one theory goes, better quality of democracy means lower levels of corruption. The story, then, should fit in just fine with the transition of Eastern European countries from Communism to full membership in the European Union. Does it?
This week the Economist takes a closer look at Eastern European transitions and the problem of corruption, concluding that
[f]or corrupt officials in central and eastern Europe, life has seldom been better. Joining the European Union has produced temptingly large puddles of public money to steal. And the region’s anti-corruption outfits are proving toothless, sidelined or simply embattled.
The reality is, of course, that anti-corruption successes have not been uniform across the region. Simply looking at TI CPI rankings, one can conclude that Slovenia, Estonia, and Czech Republic really did see improvements in the anti-corruption climate while countries like Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania have remained where they were before.
See full Article.
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